


What Am I Going To Do With You, Kid.

by Gootbuttheichou



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-25 00:10:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3789388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gootbuttheichou/pseuds/Gootbuttheichou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My present to <a href="https://twitter.com/erenings">Harley</a>  for their birthday yesterday, who asked for angst and got it. You're amazing and I love talking to you and I'm so glad you dragged me into DMC hell <3</p>
<p>Many thanks to  the other squad members: <a href="https://twitter.com/PlayingChello">Chelsea</a> for looking this over and <a href="https://twitter.com/eli_cchi">Isabel</a> for being another suave af person to headcanon jam with</p>
<p>PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE TAGS! If child sexual assault, self harm, violence, rape or death trigger you in any way, shape or form, please take care of yourself and don't feel obligated to read this. Your health is more important to me. </p>
<p>I have a <a href="https://twitter.com/gootbuttheichou">twitter</a> and a <a href="http://gootbuttheichou.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a></p>
    </blockquote>





	What Am I Going To Do With You, Kid.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eeeeeeeeeerenjaegar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eeeeeeeeeerenjaegar/gifts).



> My present to [Harley](https://twitter.com/erenings) for their birthday yesterday, who asked for angst and got it. You're amazing and I love talking to you and I'm so glad you dragged me into DMC hell <3
> 
> Many thanks to the other squad members: [Chelsea](https://twitter.com/PlayingChello) for looking this over and [Isabel](https://twitter.com/eli_cchi) for being another suave af person to headcanon jam with
> 
> PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE TAGS! If child sexual assault, self harm, violence, rape or death trigger you in any way, shape or form, please take care of yourself and don't feel obligated to read this. Your health is more important to me. 
> 
> I have a [twitter](https://twitter.com/gootbuttheichou) and a [tumblr](http://gootbuttheichou.tumblr.com/)

When Nero was six, his father left.

Left Nero sobbing, tears streaming down his face as his mother threw empty bottles of booze and pictures in his wake, only acknowledging Nero by turning to slap him across the face whenever he was too noisy.

Then, she started bringing men home.

Nero never saw their faces, only heard their names from his mother’s moans, always wondering whenever he was locked in his bedroom with just a pack of crackers if it was the same man from the night before.

It changed after a few months when he woke up one morning to find the door unlocked and a man sitting at their kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee.

“Hello. Nero, is it?” His blue eyes offers the nicest smile Nero has seen in months, bending down to shake his tiny little hand. “My name is Brad. Your mother is a very nice woman.”

Nero stares at the hand doubtfully, finally willing himself to look this now named stranger in the eye as he sticks his hand out almost like a challenge, and Brad smiles. “I can tell we’re going to be very good friends, Nero.”

\---

Within another few months, Brad is living with Nero and his mother. And it’s not until then that Brad will sneak into Nero’s room at night, only to pin him down and silence him as his hands violate the scared and tiny body each night. To suggest that he and Nero go out for a few hours to “bond”, only to force himself upon Nero in his car in an empty parking lot.

It lasts for three years.

It lasts for three years until Nero kills the bastard, then runs away to the Holy Knights and lives with Kyrie and Credo's family.

As they grow up, Nero feels like he should feel something more about Kyrie- he knows how boys his age act with girls, but he can’t help to feel that it doesn't settle right with him thinking about Kyrie that way. She’s almost like a sister to him.

Besides, he isn’t sure if he can ever do that to another person. Not after what the monster did to him.

\---

When he’s nineteen, during a sermon, a large man in a red coat comes and kills Sanctus, and it’s Nero’s job to track him down, and then save Kyrie once he finds out what Sanctus, Credo and Agnus were really up to.

It takes him a while to finally go and see Dante again. What with trying to maintain peace between the citizens, reconstruct the city and overturn Holy Knights in the Order, Nero doesn't even think about the other man until one day Kyrie pulls him aside. "You should go thank him," she said sweetly, and Nero had looked at her before looking away with a little scoff at the idea of meeting the jackass again.

But of course, he'll do it for Kyrie. Dante did help him save her, after all.

He thinks about it as he tracks down the bar called Devil May Cry, about how he's tried to gauge his feelings on Kyrie these past few months. They had kissed, but nothing seemed to have… clicked.

These ideas go out the window once he meets Dante, almost blanking on his train of thought and walking out the door when he sees two near half naked women standing around a desk with a box of pizza, but something makes him stay when he sees a pair of familiar red boots propped up on said desk.

“Hey hey hey, look who it is! Told you we’d meet again, kid. Now are you here to give me an apology? Or here to finally thank me?”

“Tch,” Nero mutters, avoiding the women’s gaze by glancing around the bar. “This your place? Looks like a dump to me.”

“What do you know? The kid has some sense in him,” the taller blonde woman says, and Nero tries to look away once more as she sways over to him. “We've met before, Nero, but you wouldn't remember.” She extends her hand to him in the same manner she did a few months prior. “Trish.”

Nero takes one glance at her hand, then her face, pulling back with a confused scowl. “Gloria?”

“Must have been some get up of hers,” the other woman mutters as Dante bursts out snickering at some amusing memory, and she strides over to Nero, peering at him as she places her hands on her hips. “I've heard about you, Nero, and not just from Dante and Trish. I’m Lady.”  
Nero just offers her hand a glance, then glares at Dante.

“For your information, I’m not here of my own accord. Kyrie… Kyrie said I should come thank you,” he mutters, sneering at Dante when that procures a sardonic laugh.

“Ah, Kyrie. The girlfriend,” Dante says, looking at Nero wryly.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Nero spits out. “And that’s none of your business! Especially when you have two of your own girlfriends here with you!”

There’s a split second of silence, then a collective of howling laughter from Dante, Trish, and Lady, and Nero snarls, wondering what he could have said that was _s_ _o_ damn funny. “What?”

“Ha! Girlfriends? Not in anyone’s sanest dreams, kiddo,” Lady says as she’s doubled over in mirth. Nero blinks in confusion, his lips curled in a sneer at Dante as he pretends to wipe a tear from his eye.

“Oh, kid. These two are the furthest thing from straight gals you’ll ever see.” At Nero’s confused stare, Dante sighs. “They’re lesbians, kid. Need me to spell it out for you?” Nero glances almost incredulously to the two women, looking away when both of them clasp a hand on each other’s ass playfully. “They keep me awake all night long whenever they fuck.”

“Did I look like I needed to know that, asshole?” Nero sneers, flinching when a hand- Lady’s- reaches out to pat his shoulder sympathetically.

“Yeah, Dante, leave the poor kid alone.”

“Seems to me like he’s not overly fond of ladies,” Trish muses almost knowingly and sharing a glance first with Dante, then Lady, who seems to understand in an instant. Nero is left dumbfounded by the comment and has no idea of how to reply, so he shoulders Red Queen.

“I’m outta here. I've done my job.”

Before he can even make it out of the door, though, an irritating voice calls out to him.

“Hey now, kid, wait a minute. Something tells me you aren't too excited to get back to fixing up that church and the Order.” Nero stops, immediately cursing himself when he spares a glance back to a smirking Dante. “Let me guess, a helluva lot of tedious work, am I right? Don’t you think you deserve a little break from being a busybody?”

“C’mon, Nero. We were just about to play some poker. Ordered pizza and sundaes and takeout and everything. We even have booze!” Lady persuades, shooting a glare at Dante when he snorts out ‘can the kid even drink?’.

“We've been working hard, too. All three of us just got back from some pretty tough jobs, so we’re taking this day off for a well deserved break,” Trish explains.

They wait patiently as Nero takes in the three of them, finally conceding with a sigh. Truth be told, he has been working pretty hard, and he’d rather not go back to the church right now. Besides, even if Dante is a supreme asshole, Lady and Trish seem like okay enough women.

“Fine. I’ll join you for one stupid round,” he says.

\---

‘One stupid round’ turns into rounds Nero can’t even keep count of, not noticing how the late morning sun has dipped down low enough in the sky for it to be late afternoon and dark enough to need to turn on more lights. He’s hesitant to drink at first, not having really touched it since he turned of age (aside from the wine during services); he’d been afraid of turning into his mother, losing his wits about him.

But when he feels relaxed enough to try “a weaker one at least, kid, c’mon,” Nero tries a Heineken beer after hearing the difference between Sierra Nevada and Guinness. It’s more bitter and acidic than the wine during services, but the food helps quell the ache in his stomach. The alcohol leaves him feeling a bit sleepy, which he figures being tipsy is all about, so he waits until the feeling wears off before he even thinks about trying another one.

He learns that Dante essentially lives off of pizza (no olives) and strawberry sundaes (“Then how the hell do you even stay in shape? That’s disgusting.”), is shit at poker and in huge amounts of debt to both Lady and Trish, and in general (“We’ll just add it to your tab.” “Jeez, again?”), and that Dante tends to get shot by Lady almost on a daily basis (“If you think this is bad, you should hear about the first time we even met!”).

But when the room grows dark enough that the lights need to be turned on, Nero decides it’s time to take his leave.

“You going to come back, kid?” Trish asks.

“You totally should! It’s nice to have a refreshing new face rather than look at Dante’s or Trish’s all the time,” Lady says. Dante says nothing, but he looks at Nero almost knowingly, almost expectantly, and Nero turns his head away with a scoff and a sigh.

“Sure. Why not.”

\---

As the months pass, Nero finds himself growing more comfortable around Lady, Trish, and Dante with the jobs they let him tag along on and the few nights he’s stayed over.

Especially Dante.

The two of them are playing pool when Dante brings up the topic. “So. You and Kyrie.”

Nero sinks the 8 ball. “Dude, drop it. I already told you.”

“Yes, but that was about two months ago. I’m just trying to make some conversation here, kid.”

Nero sighs, averting his eyes as Dante lines up his shot. “It’s. The same, I guess.”

“Have you even kissed her?” Dante asks, shrugging and looking expectantly at Nero when he fails to sink a ball.

“What the hell kind of question is that? Of course I have!” Nero snarls, growling when he misses the ball he was aiming for.

“Whoa, touchy.” Dante takes a sip of his beer. “So I take it you've only kissed one person? And only once?”

“I really don’t see what the point of this conversation is,” Nero growls again.

“Let me guess, kid. When it happened, you didn't feel that fiery, passionate spark the romance novels talked about.”

“None of your fucking business,” Nero warns. Dante throws his hands up in mock surrender, and while he takes his sweet time lining up the shot, Nero sighs. “I just. I think we only see each other as siblings or something.”

Dante smirks as he sinks his ball. “You love her, but you aren't _in_ love with her. Maybe there’s a reason for that, kid. Probably also the reason you've been getting pissier these past few months.”

Nero frowns at him. “What do you mean?”

He stares levelly at Dante as he stands back up. “Demons mate, kid.”

Nero blinks. “So?”

Dante rolls his eyes and barks out a laugh. “So, you’re half demon. And you aren't boning anybody. Which means you’re only going to get pissier until you do so, and satisfy that demon part of you.”

Nero stares at him, then looks away. “But I- I don’t need- I don’t want- who would I even-?”

“While demons and half demons fucking humans is always an option- take Trish and Lady, or my parents, or even me for example- something tells me you’re not the kind of guy to go screw girls.”

This earns another stare, then a snarling sneer from Nero. “Go fuck yourself, you decrepit old man. I’m not screwing anybody.”

Dante laughs. “Well I would think not, not with the fact that you've only kissed one person- a girl, I might add- only once!”

“I’ll show you!” Nero growls, and then both Devil Bringer and his normal hand are fisted in Dante’s coat, tugging him down for a fierce, clumsy mesh of lips.

He’s startled by the way something inside of him seems to growl in _pleasure_ , a feeling of relief after a long undissolved tension, a sense of _finally_ , some sort of expectation of something finally happening and coming forth to an outcome.

He’s barely aware of Dante’s rough, calloused fingers gripping his chin, meeting his own soft lips with chapped, stubbly skin that delivers it’s own bruising force. But Nero knows he is holding back, knows that he has more experience than him and is trying to coach him to make this kiss less awkward and stumbling and stuttering.

When Nero finally breaks away to breathe, he tries not to notice how both he and Dante are panting, how Dante’s lips look more swollen and more  _appetizing_  than they did before. How, while he feels somewhat sated, something inside of him is screaming for more, _more_.

“And that,” Dante grins, “was your first kiss with an experienced half demon dude. Pretty satisfying, eh?”

Nero only lets go of Dante’s coat and shoves him away before high tailing it out of there.

\---

He’s back a week later, and after playing a round of poker while pointedly avoiding looking at Dante, he notices that Dante and Trish’s presence feels tenser than normal, similar to how he feels, and when the first lightning cracks in the sky for the night, Trish finally throws her cards down, mutters an “Eyes to yourself, you pervert,” and drags Lady upstairs.

Nero just stares after them, then looks to Dante. “Care to explain what that was about?”

“Beginning of mating season,” is all Dante says tiredly with his arm draped over his head. “One wrong look at Lady this week and Trish is at my throat.”

Nero mutters an ‘oh’, then Dante looks at him. “You might want to go home, kid. It’s only going to get louder than Hell up in here soon.” He sighs tiredly when Nero jumps at the sound of something being thrown against the wall. “I’d say go find yourself somebody to fuck, but you might just have to ride this one out.”

“I don’t-” Nero snaps, but stops short when Dante glares at him.

“Believe me, kid. If Trish is in mating season, I’m in mating season. And so are every and any demon and half demons. Including you.”

Nero just scowls at him. “Then what about you? Aren't you going to go find someone to screw?”

Dante sighs. “I might have to.” He sends one more look at Nero. “Stop scowling, you’re going to get wrinkles before you’re even twenty. And,” he continues, “if you know what’s best for you, you’ll go home. Now.”

That’s all it takes for Nero to pack up and go, but he can feel Dante’s predatory gaze on him as he walks out the door, and he tries to deny the shiver of pleasure he feels, the need to go back and do _something_.

\---

The next week, he feels worse than ever, and he drags himself to DMC to find a very chipper Trish and very sated (but bruised) Lady, and a slightly okay Dante.

“You look like hell,” Nero remarks to Lady, who grins back at him.

“But I feel amazing!” She declares. Trish gives Nero a look.

“Poor thing. I can tell you had to endure that all by yourself. The first mating season is never fun.”

“Dante was barely even better,” Lady explains. “I’m pretty sure he only had one lay that whole week.”

“I heard that,” Dante calls out as he idly flicks through his magazine. Lady smirks in his direction while Trish shakes her head almost sympathetically, clapping a hand lightly on Nero’s shoulder.

“Anyway, we were about to head out for a job. Wanna tag along? You’d be a pretty decent addition.”

Nero stares tiredly at Lady before glancing to Trish, then Dante for just the briefest second. “Sure. Why not.”

\---

The job is a tough one, and by the time they all tromp back to Devil May Cry, it’s too late for Nero to head home, and he’s too exhausted to even think about it.

“Feel free to stay here, kid,” Dante says as Lady and Trish head to the shower together, leaving their dirty and torn clothes out in the hamper in the hallway. “You can have the shower after the girls.”

Nero doesn't thank him, only blinking tiredly when Dante hands him a bottle of beer and plops down on the couch next to him with his own. “You did good out there, kid.”

“Heh.” They sit in silence as they slowly sip their beers, and Nero looks at Dante when the older man sets his empty bottle down.

“C’mere, kid,” is all he says before he gently reaches his hand out to Nero’s face as if asking for permission. Nero glances at it once before he sets his beer down cautiously and leans into the touch, the demon inside him finally growling in relief when their lips meet.

They lose track of time and don’t even hear the water turning off until Lady clears her throat.

“You two gonna keep making out on that couch in your dirty clothes, or are you going to go shower?”

Dante thinks it’s utterly adorable how Nero blushes at that and shoots up toward the bathroom, brushing past Trish quickly. He watches that magnificent ass until it’s out of sight, grinning to himself as he picks up Nero’s beer.

“Well don’t you look peachy,” Lady snorts as Trish sits next to her on the love seat, handing her a beer.

“Could have been a helluva lot better, had someone not interrupted,” Dante remarks sarcastically, but he’s still smirking to himself as he finishes Nero’s beer. “Still, could have been worse.”

Lady only hums and looks at Trish, who is giving Dante a calculating stare.

\---

It continues like that for almost a year.

Nero eventually moves in with them, and he and Dante make out in the most random places of the bar at the most random times of any day. Nero always feels like he’s needing more and more each time, but he doesn't give in to the urge.

Not until mating season is almost upon them again.

Trish and Lady are on a job that will last into the middle of the week, and Dante and Nero are playing a round of poker at the coffee table until they forget about it to make out.

There’s an even heavier air of desperation about them, and it’s not until Nero fails to hold back the softest moan at the way Dante’s fingers move from his cheek to just barely brush behind his ears and neck, and Dante suddenly _growls_ into the kiss, clutching tighter to Nero’s hip with his other hand, licking into Nero’s mouth with a groan when Nero’s human hand slides down his cheek to the junction of his neck and collar.

“Nero,” Dante growls, and it sends shivers down Nero’s spine, lust pooling in his gut.

“Dante-” and Nero is pinned down onto the couch, holding back a groan as Dante moves to bite bruises into his neck. “Oh-”

Through their numerous make out sessions, they've learned of what places to touch and when, learned how quickly love bites and bite marks take to form and to fade, how the other one sounds and moves when they’re touched _just right_ , know the taste of each other’s blood from separate occasions (Dante had warned him how demons mate by swapping blood, so they've been careful not to both draw blood on one occasion).

So it’s no surprise to them now. It’s just more _needy_.

“Wanna fucking _mark_ you, kid,” Dante growls possessively, scraping his teeth up the column of Nero’s thrumming pulse. “How do you want it?” he asks, the question he poses every time so they don’t accidentally swap blood.

“You,” Nero says, gasping when Dante bites down hard enough on the junction of his neck and shoulder to draw blood, his growling rumbling the whole couch as he laps it up.

“Wanna fucking taste more of you, kid,” he snarls, licking his way into Nero’s mouth when Nero pulls him in for a kiss. “I wanna fuck you.”

Nero gasps at that, pulling away from Dante with widening eyes.

“You- you want to-?”

“Been wanting to for a while,” Dante says, locking his eyes with Nero as he runs his fingers down the front of Nero’s shirt. “You've got a hot body, you’re a hell of a fine kisser, and besides. My demon won’t fucking shut up whenever you’re around, kid.”

Nero shivers at that, gripping at Dante’s bicep with his normal hand. “I’m-”

“Nervous? Scared? Wouldn't be the first virgin to be,” Dante says with a hint of a smirk, laughing when Nero punches him in the gut. “Really, though. With mating season coming up, you at least have to have _some_ idea of someone you wanna bang. Don’t want to be miserable like last year, do ya?”

“I’m not going to-” Dante silences him with a fierce kiss.

“Think of it this way. Why not do it with me? I can tell you ain't that comfortable around other people, and I know what I’m doing. This can only be a one week thing. Nothing changes between us.”

He stares down at a glaring Nero, watching as his eyebrows pull apart. “I’m-”

Dante sighs. “Look, kid, it’s only a suggestion. I’m not going to force you with something you ain't comfortable with.” He moves to sit up until Nero brings him down for a greedy kiss, nipping hungrily at his lips.

“Fuck me.”

\---

Mating season comes and goes with Dante having some of the best sex of his life and Nero raking his nails down Dante’s back as he screamed for “ _more_ , please, Dante--”. Lady and Trish notice the difference between the two when they return from their job later than expected to find that most of the furniture is almost broken and blood stains on the floor and walls, and a very sated Dante and an easier to deal with Nero. Trish had only arched an eyebrow at Dante, only to be reassured that “don’t worry, we didn't do it.”

It’s a few months until they have sex again, though. Dante could tell that Nero had tried to put some distance between the two of them, that they just simply lived and existed together in the same space.

It changes when Nero comes into his room one night, looking tired as he straddles Dante’s lap. “Well, look who’s awake.”

“As if you’re one to talk,” Nero sneers, but they fall silent, both of them knowing that Dante doesn't sleep much anyway.

Dante just lets it slide, resting a hand on Nero’s hip instead. “And what kind of services can I provide to you on this spectacular night?” Nero punches his shoulder, and Dante arches a brow at him. “Hmm, moody little thing. Let me guess, a nightmare woke you up.”

With the poor lighting in the room, Dante can’t tell if Nero’s glare deepens, and if he’s hit the mark on the head or not, so he keeps trying. “Well, rest assured that, whatever it is, there are no monsters under my bed if you do choose to stay here. Though if you’re scared of the dark, you’ll have to turn on the light.”

“Stop smirking, you sarcastic pompous ass,” Nero snarls, delivering a punch to Dante's side. “I want you to fuck me.”

This catches Dante’s attention, and he opens his eyelids to look up at Nero, taking in the way the moonlight from the window reflects off his snow white hair and his pale skin. “Again? Ah, so the libido does live.”

“Shut _up_.”

“That doesn't seem like a very romantic thing to somebody you want to have sex with, kid,” Dante remarks as he sits up. “But alright. I aim to please.”

He can tell something is different about Nero as he fucks into him. It’s not desperation from lust, like it had been when they first fucked during mating season. It’s still a sense of desperation, but from what, Dante can’t figure it out. He holds Nero after they both come, running his fingers gently through his hair, only pressing a gentle kiss to Nero’s head with a soft sigh once he’s certain he’s asleep.

“What am I going to do with you, kid…”

\---

It continues for months: Nero is usually the one to come to Dante asking for sex, and Dante delivers, noticing how Nero always seems to look almost guilty, disgusted, and almost sickened after each time.

But after a while, Dante has to ask.

“Nero?”

“What?”

“Now listen, kid, don’t get me wrong- the sex is great, in my opinion, but for the last… eight or so months we've been doing this, I can’t help to notice that you always seem- oh, I don’t know- I guess ‘unsatisfied’ is the word I’m looking for. Any ideas as to why that may be?”

Nero is silent for the longest time, and Dante is about to ask him if he fell asleep or not when he quietly says, “I was raped as a kid.”

Dante’s fingers immediately still in his hair, and Nero continues. “After my dad left, my mom got a boyfriend. And after he moved in, he’d start… molesting me each night.” Dante can feel Nero’s Devil Bringer curl into a fist under the sheet. “It lasted for three years. Until I killed him.”

Dante suddenly understands the reasons why Nero had shot him the one time he’d try to wake him up with a blowjob, the panic attack he had had once after waking up in Dante’s bed, the nightmares.

“So you’re always reminded of it whenever we have sex,” he says carefully, trying to understand why Nero even does it if he’s going to feel guilty, if it’s fully consensual on Nero’s part.

There’s another silence before Nero speaks. “I used to self harm. Before I became a demon.”

Dante stills once more, realization dawning on him. “It was your coping method. A stress relief.” He can feel Nero nod slightly.

“I still do it. But since the scars don’t really last anymore…”

As the words are left unspoken, heavy and silent in the air, Dante slips his arms free of Nero and stands up, not even looking at the younger man as he shrugs pants on.

He spares one glance over his shoulder back at the bed once he’s collected his boots, shirt, jacket, Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory, and Nero isn’t looking at him, staring off blankly at the wall in an even tighter ball than before.

Dante doesn't even leave a note for Trish or Lady. He doesn't know when he’ll even be back.

\---

Almost two months pass where Lady, Trish, and sometimes even Nero go looking for Dante, the fewest amount of words being exchanged between the three in regards as to why Dante left.

Lady and Trish are out looking for him once more one rainy night when Nero is absentmindedly playing pool by himself, looking up when the front door slams open. The pool stick clatters to the floor.

“Dante,” he breathes out, watching with widening eyes as the older man strides towards him and claims his lips in a fierce kiss. “Dante, I-”

“Fucking listen to me, kid. I’m not that damn interested in having sex with you unless you want it as a source of pleasure, and _only_ pleasure. You got that?”

“Dante, I’m-”

“I know, kid.”

He pushes Nero back against the pool table, an air of desperate tenderness about them as Dante continues to kiss Nero greedily, hoisting him up to sit on the edge of the table and wrap his legs around him. “I missed you, Nero.”

“Dante, it was m-”

He shushes him, reverent lips kissing and biting pale skin as their clothes are quickly discarded, and Nero groans into the kiss as he’s laid back down upon the pool table. “Dante-”

He looks shocked when Dante flips them around to have Nero atop of him, tugging him down for another kiss. “What am I going to do with you, kid?”

\---

With things back to normal and even better than before, Nero and Dante have sex more often.

Nero even moves his things into Dante’s room, and they sleep in the same bed every night.

Dante always holds on to Nero, stroking his hair softly and pressing one kiss to his head gently just before the kid falls asleep.

\---

  
Eventually, Dante makes up his mind and takes Nero to Fortuna with him.

“I thought you hated Fortuna,” Nero scoffs as they stroll down the streets. “Where the hell are we even going?”

“Can’t a guy try being romantic once in a while? Kind of killing the mood if you want to get some later tonight,” Dante jokes.

“Whatever.” They continue walking until Dante stops and lets out a whistle.

“Man, they sure did clean this place up.”

“Of course. I had to help after you took part in smashing it to bits.” Nero gives a dismissive shake of his head. “What are we even doing here? Didn't you have some place ‘romantic’ you wanted to take me?”

Dante only grabs Nero’s hand and drags him into the church, behind the altar and in front of the statue of his father, turning around to look at Nero once he’s in front of him. If he’s nervous (which he is, though it doesn't happen often), he doesn't show it, and he looks seriously and softly at Nero. “Be my mate.”

He watches Nero’s face contort and pull back in confusion. “What? You mean-”

“I mean, I’m asking you to swap blood with me. If you want to be my lifelong partner. Not just fuck buddies, or boyfriends, or whatever the hell we are anymore. Be my mate, for real and for permanent.”

Nero blinks. “Dante, I-”

Dante sighs. “Look, kid, do I have to spell it out for you? I love you.”

Nero frowns at him, but Dante can just barely see the wetness at the corners of his eyes.

“You sappy, senile old ass. Yes, I’ll be your mate.”

Dante pulls Nero in for a brief, soft kiss, then the force of it grows hungrier as he and Nero nip at each other, growling when Nero pulls away. “Wait, I- when? Where-?”

“I hope you’re not going to ask ‘how’, because I've already explained that numerous times.” Dante smirks as Nero punches his shoulder.

“I- no, you jackass! I’m- I’m not doing anything like that here. Not in her church.”

Dante laughs. “Oh, come on, kid. Don’t tell me you don’t think her and her girlfriend have gotten anything on in here.” The way Nero almost blushes at that, still clearly embarrassed about the thought of imagining his best friend, his sister, doing those kinds of things, Dante thinks is utterly endearing.

“I just. I think we should go back home to do this.”

And Dante can’t deny that. “Come on then, kid.”

\---

Nero is met with a harsh intensity from Dante as soon as they stumble into the bar, meeting each other push for pull, give or take, as they trip into the pool table. Dante growls as he directs Nero to the nearest wall, sucking red and purple colors into his neck as he hoists his legs around his waist.

“Nero,” he rumbles, “‘m gonna eat you alive.”

“Do it,” Nero breathes, gasping out in pleasure as Dante carries him up the stairs and slams him into their bedroom door with another kiss as he fumbles with the lock. But before Nero can fall back onto the bed, he swivels his hips with the strength his wiry muscles possess, straddling Dante warmly as they pause to look at each other, melting into the touch of the older half demon caressing his cheek.

“You sure you wanna do this?” he asks once more, biting back a groan when Nero attacks his necks and pushes off his coat.

“Yeah. I want you, Dante.” The words are followed by Nero finally drawing blood with a deep sink of his teeth into Dante’s skin, lapping it up with a moan. Dante curses, pushing Nero away in order to pull his shirt off, smirking at the way Nero damn near rips it off of him.

“Careful there, hot shot. You going to buy me a new shirt if you fuck this one up?”

“Go to hell,” Nero growls, his spine stiffening as Dante’s grip tightens on his hips, yanking his coat and shirt off.

“Oh yeah, much better,” Dante mutters, taking a moment to just observe his soon to be mate. It’s been two years, but he’s still caught unaware of how absolutely beautiful Nero is sometimes, and the poor kid doesn't even realize it. He’s reminded of the task at hand when Nero shifts uncomfortably in his lap.

“You going to do something, or what?”

“Just enjoying the view,” Dante says honestly, pulling Nero in for a kiss.

It’s then that Dante is finally able to bite down hard enough on Nero’s lips to draw blood without worrying about the implications, his eyes flying open and both of their demons purring in resonance, finally united and together.

And any thoughts of going slow and taking it easy go out the window.

If they thought their make out sessions or the sex for the past year was rough before now, they were definitely wrong. They fuck like animals, voices raising in a chorus of the damned with needy moans, long groans, throaty growls and lusty whimpers as they scratch, bite, wreck, destroy and bruise each other, each of them feeling every touch from their new mate, and their simultaneous releases are a mind blowing, religious experience as they come with their fingers threaded together.

Nero had ended up on his back as Dante plowed into him, and there are tears of pleasure pricking at his ice blue eyes as they lay gasping for breath next to each other, Dante halfheartedly licking over each of Nero’s new scratches, lapping up the blood, sweat, the tears from Nero’s face, even cleaning up their come that has mixed together. He doesn't even realize Nero is purring until he feels the vibrations from his chest, chuckling tiredly. Nero slaps his shoulder weakly.

“Shut up. Your purring is rocking the whole damn bed.”

“Which we damn near broke,” Dante observes as he pulls Nero into his arms, resting his nose in the snow white hair, stroking the back of his neck lightly.

“The laundry’s going to be a pain in the ass, too,” Nero mumbles sleepily.

“Yeah, I have a feeling these stains are never going to come out,” Dante says, but he honestly doesn't mind if the red will be permanently soaked into the linens.

\---

With mating season soon upon them, it’s a new and profound experience for the recently conjoined mates, even deeper and more sensual and carnal than ever.

\---

Over time, they experience what happens if they are far apart for too long, practically feeling the physical illness dissipate when they reunite with each other.

They also start to feel more than each other’s physical sensations. They soon begin to feel what their mate is thinking, their emotions, their mental train of thoughts.

It’s then that Dante can hear just how prolific Nero’s demon is.

He knows from instances in the past that the voice inside Nero seems to overwhelm him, but he never knew it was _this_ bad.

He can’t hear the voice, never hears a name from it, but he can tell just how much more distressed and distraught Nero is whenever he can’t drown at the voice.

He tries to ask Nero about it once, but knows not to pry after the answer he receives. So Dante just keeps an eye on his mate.

\---

Other than the voice in Nero’s head, things seem to be pretty smooth sailing and normal as ever for about a year or so.

While Nero had still dealt with nightmares from what happened as a kid and the voice inside his head, he no longer felt the urge to do anything to compensate for the pain. Not with Dante’s name carved into his shoulder, which he’ll always freshen up whenever Nero pleads for it, reassuring Nero that he is Dante’s, and Dante’s alone.

But all that changes when a face Dante is all too familiar with shows up to Devil May Cry.

“Vergil?” he whispers almost breathlessly when he walks into the bar with one arm thrown around Nero’s shoulders, immediately stepping in front of his mate as he reaches for Rebellion with a snarl. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Ah, Dante. Always a pleasure to see you as well,” Vergil says smoothly, and Dante can feel Nero’s spine stiffen behind him.

“I asked you a question, Verg. How the fuck are you back here?”

“Let’s just say I managed to find a way to return to the human world,” is all Vergil says, standing up from the couch as he walks over to Dante, stopping when he sees Nero. “And who is this?” he says coolly, eyes boring into Nero intensely.

“None of your goddamn business,” Dante growls. Vergil seems to have not heard him, only flicking his gaze back to Dante with a probing look.

“... Brother. Do you mean to tell me you've found yourself a mate?” he asks, raising his chin at the faint possessive glint that flashes across Dante’s eyes. “Looks almost pathetic, to me.”

Dante can feel the way Nero inwardly shrinks into himself, something he does when he’s on the verge of playing with his spinner ring to keep himself from panicking.

It makes Dante absolutely _livid_.

“Don’t,” he growls as he thrusts the tip of Rebellion under Vergil’s chin, “don’t you _ever_ talk about him like that.”

Vergil stares at Dante as the corners of his lips curl into a condescending smirk. “If you say so, brother.” He lowers Rebellion, staring at Nero appraisingly as he steps around them, muttering a ‘hmph’ when Dante moves to continue guarding Nero, not offering another look over his shoulder as he strolls down the street.

Nero’s heart is slamming against his ribs, his eyes widened as his breath is coming quickly and shallowly. It’s not until he registers that Dante slams the door shut and locks it and pulls him into bruising hug and Rebellion clatters to the floor that Nero realizes Dante is the same way, and his hands shake as he grips the front of Dante’s coat. “D-Dante-”

“Nero-”

“Was that-?”

“I- how-?” Nero can feel Dante shudder as he snarls, and thinks he may even hear a bit of a whimper in his voice. “I should have- I-”

“Dante…”

That night, Nero does his best to try to distract his mate as he sinks down onto his cock, kissing him with care as his hand brushes away the wetness on his mate’s cheeks after a nightmare pulled Dante from his fitful sleep.

\---

With the passing days, Dante warns Lady and Trish, and everyone is on guard, though nothing happens.

Nero can’t tell if the voice in his head has gotten better or worse.

\---

Vergil doesn't show up again until Lady, Trish and Dante are all on separate jobs.

Nero is sketching at his mate’s desk, headphones emitting music when he sees the sunlight filter in through the open door. “Welcome to Devil May Cr-” he starts automatically, blood chilling when he hears an all too familiar voice.

“Nero.”

It’s almost as if some other force possesses him to look up into ice blue eyes- eyes that are far too close to the color of his mother’s boyfriend.

“What do you want?” he can only manage to whisper, knuckles turning white with his harsh grip on his pencil. Vergil merely cocks his head to the side.

“Why, Nero. Surely you must know the answer to that.”

Nero can only stare at Vergil as he inspects his nails before he looks Nero in the eye again. “No? Well- you have something that belongs to me.” Nero’s palm is sweaty around his grip on the pencil.

“It’s- Dante-”

“Had no right to give what wasn't his,” Vergil cuts him off, placing his hands on the desk to lean forward. “But I will say, I did somewhat enjoy the feel of Yamato being under control. I could finally feel something in Hell.” He gives Nero a cold stare. “It gave me power again.”

Nero tries not to gulp, tries to curl his lips into a sneer. “Go back to-”

“Oh, Nero. Why do you refuse to gain power?”

Nero’s insult dies on his tongue as his eyes widen again, already knowing what will come next as Vergil shakes his head with a tut.

“I know why, Nero. It is because you are _weak_.”

“Stop it-”

“Just like you were too weak to even defend yourself when you were younger. You allowed yourself to be violated.”

Nero’s throat is threatening to close up as tears prick at his eyes. “You-”

“You’re too weak for Yamato. And I _will_ take back what is mine.”

With that, he pushes himself off of the desk and turns to walk back out of the bar, and Nero doesn't hear him mutter “And perhaps take even more.”

All Dante knows when he comes home is that something caused his mate to go into a panic, but the only explanation he gets is “I just- I just had a flashback of- of him, that’s all.”

\---

Time passes once more.

Until one day, as Nero is grocery shopping, he can feel rage burning through Dante.

And can feel him fighting.

The blows come hard and quick, and Nero barely manages to not fall onto the floor as he bolts out of the store, praying that he’ll find his mate in the bar.

Just as he enters Devil May Cry, his chest feels like it’s being ripped apart, heart seizing and lungs protesting as he can feel bones being splintered, cartilage being torn, ligaments snapping, muscle and skin being shredded and tendons tearing. He falls to the floor, too weak to even keep searching for his mate, not even registering the blood stained brown boots that stop in front of him until it’s too late.

“You-” he gasps when Vergil closes and locks the front door, yanking Nero by his hair. “What-”

“I am taking back what is rightfully mine,” Vergil pants, and Nero’s blood freezes at the feral glint in his eyes. “And I am claiming another victory prize for myself.”

“No-” Nero tries to struggle, but he goes breathless as Vergil’s hand clamps down around his throat and slams the back of his head into the door.

“ _Quiet_ ,” he snarls. “Do you know how long I was in Hell, Nero?” Nero tries to swallow as Vergil leans in closer. “Thirteen years. Do you know what that means?” Vergil’s eyes sweep quickly over Nero’s body. “Thirteen years of enduring unsatisfying and sexless mating seasons.” Nero tries to kick out, but he cries in pain when Vergil drives a dagger into his thigh, leaning in closer to Nero’s face. “But then I gained access to your mind. And I could feel your demon side.” He traces a thumb over Nero’s lip, driving the dagger deeper into Nero’s thigh when he tries to shake his hand away, whispering in his ear.

“I was in your head during each and every mating season for the past three years.” His fingers dance down to the front of his pants, eyes glowing maniacally at the fear in Nero’s eyes.

“You’re such a slut, Nero. So weak and pathetic.” A hand goes to undo the button on Nero’s jeans. “But unlike when you were younger… you _want_ this.”

He procures another dagger to draw the blade of it above Nero’s collarbone, growling when he drinks it up.

“Delicious. I can almost see why my brother chose to mate with a weakling like you.”

Nero’s eyes widen as Vergil flips the blade to point to his own wrist, struggling with all his might once more when the older man brings his bleeding wrist to Nero’s mouth.

“You _will_ drink!” Vergil snarls, and he growls with satisfaction when the blood trickles down Nero’s unwilling throat.

Instantly, Nero’s insides feel as if they’re being incinerated, and he screams out from the sheer pain as it feels like he is physically being torn into two right down the middle, from his pounding head to his constricting chest to his numb toes.

The part of him that felt the most sane ever since he has mated with Dante is gone.

He can’t even feel Dante choke back on his own scream drowning in garbled blood.

Nero doesn't register that he’s being roughly flipped with his chest to the door, temple cracking against the thick wood as Vergil rips his coat and shirt all in one go.

“Oh… and what is this?” Vergil growls when he sees Dante’s carefully carved out name marking Nero’s pale skin in intricate strokes. He quickly grabs his dagger and slashes through it.

“You are _mine_ now.”

Nero sobs when Vergil forces himself inside, retching when Vergil releases inside of him.

And then he falls to the floor as Vergil tucks himself back into his pants and does his belt, eyes widening as he sees Dante’s bloodied form trudge forward, eyes blazing red as he drags Rebellion by his side.

“Dan… te…” Nero whimpers, barely even capable of watching when Dante slowly raises it up to bring it down upon Vergil’s shoulder.

All Hell breaks loose again as Vergil battles Dante with Yamato, and by the time Lady and Trish have broken through the window, Vergil is standing with the blade already slitting Nero’s throat as Dante drives Rebellion into his brother’s skull.

“ _Go. To. Hell_ ,” Dante snarls, watching as the light fades from Vergil’s eyes.

Rebellion clatters to the floor as Vergil falls out the broken door, and Dante is immediately cradling Nero in his arms.

“Nero… Nero, kid, I’m… I’m sorry, I’m _so_ sorry, I’m-”

“D-Dante,” Nero chokes out, coughing as blood bubbles out of his mouth. “I’m- I’m sorry, I was we-”

“Don’t, baby,” Dante grits out, brushing his fingers through Nero’s hair as he leans down to kiss his tear stained cheeks. “It was my fault, I should have killed him earlier, I should have protected you, I-”

“I never told you-” Nero’s overtaken by another coughing fit as alarm washes over Dante’s face.

“It’s… It’s okay, Nero, it’s going to be okay.”

“Dante… it- it hurts,” Nero whimpers, and Dante kisses him softly.

“I know, kid. I’m sorry.”

“I… I just… wanted you… to be proud of me,” Nero whispers hoarsely, and Dante’s heart hurts as he places a finger on Nero’s lips.

“Nero. I've always been proud of you.”

Nero weakly swallows. “I… I love…”

When the life leaves Nero’s eyes, Dante stares into his mate’s face.

It’s not beautiful in death, and his shoulder shakes as the tears cascade down onto the pale face as he closes Nero’s eyes.

“What am I going to do without you, kid…”


End file.
